The Real Scoop on Kids and Online Sharing

Look on any social media and you’ll see people of all ages sharing things about their lives. It could be a new hobby they're learning or where they've been on holiday. As harmless as young people may see these now, like instinctive shareable moments, guardians still need to keep one eye on this online openness. 

Internet connections can now be accessed in large areas of the world, and the tech that goes with it—tablets, phones, even smart televisions—is often readily available. These devices are great spaces to explore and play and since the global pandemic forced education to move online in large areas of the world, it is also a familiar space for Gen Alpha (11 years old or younger) to turn to. In 2024, we will see around 36.2 million children in this age group use the internet—around 12 million more than the age group above. 

“Overall trends for apps and sites YouTube was the most used online platform among 3-17-year-olds (88%), followed by WhatsApp (55%), TikTok (53%), Snapchat (46%), Instagram (41%) and Facebook (34%).” - Ofcom

In recent years, YouTube has become a firm favourite for younger audiences. Nowadays, it is used much like a google search engine with people watching tutorials on everything from how to style their hair to how to kickflip. Young people are drawn to this step-by-step visual breakdown and it is only to be assumed that the growing interest came from the time spent in 2020-2021 spent socialising predominantly online. One incredible movement has been that young people aren’t just wanting to use these platforms to learn, they also want to create and share their own versions of hacks to help peers learn. The students have literally become the masters. 

In this time frame, it was not only learning that turned digital. Social media rocketed. What was already a fast-growing trend machine developed into a primary way to stay connected with friends and family from afar. With new tech developing—and old tech improving—multiple message platforms are now digital must-haves and mean that kids communicate through Bitmojis, video messages, and voice notes.  

We all remember the joy of playing with our friends when young, and online gaming has created a new layer of connectivity between friends allowing them to meet in online worlds. When combined with the above mentioned social boom online, there are now incredible opportunities for play amongst young people only a click away.

“A key reason children aged 3-17 said they played games was to ‘hang out with friends’ (24%). On top of this, our study found that children aged 8-17 used games as a way of playing with (55%) and chatting with (47%) people they knew.” - Ofcom

Multiplayer games allow for friends to play against each other, or to play in teams against others online. This does open up some obvious areas of concern with 22% of Gen Alpha kids admitting to talking to people they don’t know. Any child interested in online gaming where chatrooms exist should be warned of this and learn which information is strictly for family matters. You wouldn’t want your bank card details going anywhere unexpected.

“Parents expressed concerns about many aspects of children’s media use, including being bullied online (70%) or via games (54%), but the most common concerns among parents related to their child seeing content that was inappropriate for their age (75%).” - Ofcom

Games often come with age restrictions and guardians with any hesitation should look into the gameplay and see for themselves if they think it is appropriate for their child—just jump onto YouTube and take a look at game walkthroughs. Better yet, we encourage guardians to join the fun and learn more about gaming through experiences with kids in real time. It’s a great way to open up new avenues of conversation in the home, plus it gives you an opportunity to keep an eye out for any content beyond their years. It will also show you the language that is developing online. Slang and pop culture have always been prevalent in young people’s vocabulary. By joining the conversation, you could build a better understanding of how your kids communicate with each other and strengthen relationships between you and your young ones. 

All of these considerations are of course crucial to how we are building the World of Us. As an online game targeted at educating and entertaining 8 years old and below, we take the safety of what children will be able to access and share very seriously (so you don’t have to).

Our mission at WoU Info is to help keep guardians in the loop on all things online, especially when it comes to the world we’re building from scratch.